Lakers pull out of trade talks to acquire Pelicans’ Anthony Davis

The Los Angeles Lakers have pulled out of conversations aimed at trying to acquire New Orleans All-Star forward Anthony Davis because of the Pelicans’ “outrageous” trade requests, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Magic Johnson, the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, told New Orleans general manager Dell Demps on Tuesday that the Lakers had made their best offer, were not willing to add anything else and were done with negotiations, said the person who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The person said the Lakers were not willing to give up the six to eight draft picks the Pelicans sought for Davis.

The Lakers later Tuesday agreed in principle to acquire Reggie Bullock from Detroit for rookie Svi Mykhailiuk. The trade is expected to be completed Wednesday. The Lakers wanted Bullock because of his shooting — he’s making 38.4 percent of his 3-point tries and 87.5 percent of his foul shots.

Late Monday night, the Lakers had changed their offer at the request of the Pelicans, two people with knowledge of the situation said.

The Lakers agreed to send their young core of Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Ivica Zubac to the Pelicans, as well as guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the two people said.

The Lakers’ final offer did include two first-round draft picks, they said. Los Angeles also offered to give New Orleans the salary-cap relief it wanted by acquiring Solomon Hill, who has another year left on his contract after this season for $12.7 million.

Over the course of talks, the Lakers made several changes to their proposals, a source said.

“They wanted more and more and more,” one person said. “There was no more to give. They had cap relief with Hill being in the deal. But the more they wanted, the more it became outrageous and unrealistic.”

Celtics 103, Cavaliers 96: Jayson Tatum scored 25 points, and visiting Boston earned its fifth straight victory despite missing All-Star guard Kyrie Irving. A strained left hip prevented Irving from facing his former team, but the Celtics made up for his absence by getting 18 points from Gordon Hayward and 17 from Marcus Smart. Rookie Collin Sexton scored 27, none in the fourth quarter, for the Cavs, who are 3-20 since Dec. 19. Alec Burks, linked to recent trade talks, added 21 for Cleveland.

Clippers 117, Hornets 115: Tobias Harris scored 34 points, including a jumper with 4.3 seconds remaining, and Los Angeles rallied from 20 points down to secure the road win. Charlotte had a chance to tie or take the lead on its last possession, but Marvin Williams’ 3-point attempt was short at the buzzer. It was the second time this season Charlotte lost after leading by 20.

Pistons 105, Knicks 92: Blake Griffin scored 29 points, Andre Drummond had 17 points and 15 rebounds, and visiting Detroit handed New York its 14th straight loss. Dennis Smith Jr., playing his second game for New York, led the Knicks with 25 points.

Grizzlies 108, Timberwolves 106: Mike Conley had 25 points and nine assists in possibly his last game for host Memphis, and the Grizzlies beat Minnesota. Former Warriors guard Justin Holiday hit two free throws with a tenth of a second remaining.

Thunder 132, Magic 122: Russell Westbrook posted his seventh straight triple-double, leading host Oklahoma City. Westbrook had 16 points, 16 assists and 15 rebounds. Paul George scored 39 points as the Thunder won for the eighth time in nine games.

Raptors 119, 76ers 107: Kyle Lowry had 20 points amid reports that visiting Toronto has offered him in a trade, and the Raptors held off Philadelphia in a matchup between two of the Eastern Conference’s top teams. Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds for his league-leading 44th double-double.

Heat 118, Trail Blazers 108: Hassan Whiteside had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and Miami snapped a three-game losing streak at Portland. Dwyane Wade added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Heat in the first of a five-game road trip.

This post was originally posted at https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Lakers-pull-out-of-trade-talks-to-acquire-13593273.php.